Love, Lessons and Legacy: The Garden Successes, Setbacks & Stamina
I LOVE a summer garden. The ripe tomato, the crunchy cucumber and the juicy cantaloupe are all considered successes in a thriving summer garden. However, the extreme heat, excessive pest pressure and relentless grass growth are setbacks that transform the garden into a brutal place for a loved hobby in the late summer months. The stamina to continue is truly tested.
Our summer garden has been a beautiful, successful one. The onions, garlic and potatoes were our first crops to harvest followed by corn, squash, tomatoes, okra, eggplant and purple hull peas. It has been bountiful in the big picture and I am extremely thankful for the season but it did not come easy.
The parallels between the garden and life, in general, are strikingly similar. In late summer, the tomato plants that were once bright, green and fragrant are now brown and crispy. The squash and cucumber plants are getting eaten alive by stink & squash bugs. The purple hull peas have been outgrown by pig weeds and grass. These challenges in the garden often reflect the same challenges I am facing in life. Burnout, pressure and overwhelming amounts of scheduling for the new year overtake and choke out the last days of summer. As much as I like to be in control, seasons in the garden and in life will change without my consent. The LESSON I have learned is to not dwell in the setbacks and losses, yet learn to prepare adequately so that you have the stamina to continue.
I came across this passage when reading in the newest release of In Her Garden; “My garden reassures me that there is beauty, value and lessons to be had, even in the times when my harvest are not all that I dreamed they’d be, and that, above all else, I get to try again, full of hope each following year”. - Robyn Chubey
Indeed, we get to go on. On to a new season. On to a new school year. On to a new day. We are not in control but we know that life will go on without our consent.
Was our garden successful? YES.
Did we have setbacks? YES.
Do we have the stamina to go on? YES.
In gardening, just like in life, you can be thriving and then, out of nowhere, something gets in your way. The way you respond to adversity will determine the LEGACY you leave.
Rooted, always. Lindsey:)